Golf With Jeremy

 

I recently had the distinct pleasure of golfing with Jeremy Brock who came down from Bakersfield for the Ontario Bible Quizzing tournament.  We were SUPPOSED to golf with C.J. also but due to unavoidable work conditions he was unattainable.

 

Jeremy had me make the reservations so I chose Yucapia Valley Golf Club which is a very nice course, well maintained, lushly green with newer carts with GPS.  I actually hadn't played there in the morning before as the twilight rate is much less expensive but as schedules dictated that we be done by noonish, we had to pay the more expensive rate.

 

Jeremy had forgotten his clubs so I brought my main set, Nike CCIs with a Sumo 1 driver along with another cheesy Alien set so we wouldn't get in trouble for playing with only one bag.  Jeremy purchased everything in the shop (shoes, glove, tees, balls, etc) and we headed out (incidentally, Jeremy, if you are reading this, you left all of your new stuff in my van).

 

Unused to playing in the morning I was ill-prepared for the more serious side of this course.  Unlike normal when we don't even get a tee time and generally just pay, saunter up to the first tee and hit several balls trying to settle in, we had to start by signing in with a starter.  Yes, a real live starter.  This man's job was to make sure that everyone started in the correct order and on time... his unwritten job description was to make sure that everyone was made VERY nervous by the prospect of someone with a critical eye viewing their golf swing. When I jokingly yet not so jokingly remarked that I would probably require several hits he responded with a not-so-affable grin, that after two, he would begin yelling at us.

 

Thus reassured I quickly sprayed two wild shots, one very short, one very right and the game was on.  Luckily for me, Jeremy's tee shots were close to my second one... on the 9th fairway far to our right.  We quickly made our way over there, avoiding the hate-filled glances and golfballs sent in our direction and addressed our approach shots. 

 

I was very disconcerted when Jeremy's next shot, nestled quietly on the edge of the green... his soft "oh yeah" was almost more than I could bear especially when my shot bounded like a stricken animal through the grass for a paltry fifteen feet.  His wounded glance in my direction said more than words.

 

I started off the day therefore with a triple bogey, an action intermittantly repeated throughout the day by both myself and Jeremy.

 

Though the first hole was a complete debacle, the rest of the day was enjoyable.  Jeremy was a thoroughly entertaining golfing partner, regailing me with annecdotes and comparisons of what my swing looked like.

 

Jeremy's game, while beginning well soon began to reflect my own.  He also lacked the consistancy I have sought for so vainly.  But, I seek not to malign Jeremy by comparing his game to mine so I push on.

 

Midway through the round, no doubt having seen all of my wretched swing that he could take, Jeremy began taking my game in hand... dolling out suggestions, tips and helpful tidbits. At first I was somewhat leary to change my all-too-perfect swing but after adopted some of the more sound advise, I began seeing a change.  My errants shots began straightening out and lengthening.  My 9-iron which I usally hit a pathetic 110 yards soon became a more respectable 125.  My other irons changed proportionally.

 

While my game never became perfected or even anything close, my heart was warmier and fuzzier than it had been.

 

I ended the day with a sad 103.

 

I took no pictures of the event but have attached some course pictures to please your asthetic souls.